


I Yearn

by TheEruditeGrammacist



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Drunken Shenanigans, Drunkenness, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, M/M, Music, Musicians, Non-Graphic Violence, One Night Stands, Paparazzi, Rating May Change, Road Trips, Romance, Sexual Content, Team Bonding, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, Warnings Will Change, Yang's Hair
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-01-31 08:36:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12678306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEruditeGrammacist/pseuds/TheEruditeGrammacist
Summary: Yang, Ruby, Weiss, and Nora, collectively known as YRWN, are Remnant's hottest band. With concerts selling out within hours and tours that last weeks, armies of fans foaming at the mouth to see them, and the wealth, fame, and talent to back it up, many would say that these four ladies have everything they could ever want. It seems a romantic life, a fairy tale full of charm.But life is never so simple, and YRWN is on course to learn this lesson in the harshest way. Torn from their carefree lives, the band and all those associated with it may be thrust through trials and troubles, not all of them internal.If, when the light of hope is taken, when enemies both old and new arise to challenge the peaceful life enjoyed by the band, they cannot overcome, then YRWN will become a tattered, broken relic, a mere remnant symbol of hope. But when hope is all that survives, then it must be preserved. At any cost.A world-renowned band will learn to fall in love, with life, with each other, and with the world. They will learn to grow as people, learn what it is to live life and lose it all.But most importantly, they learn that when all you need's a miracle, you can find it in the ones you call your family.





	1. I Burn

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I _did_ say to give me another month. And it has been exactly one month since Bumbleby Week ended.
> 
> So, here it is. The long-awaited (by some, apparently) Rock Band AU, I Yearn. Enjoy it, dearies. 
> 
> Couple of quick notes before we begin: One, as the observant tag reader will notice, I specified that the rating _may_ change, but the warnings _will._ I'm withholding warnings for now to prevent spoilers, but once the chapters are posted to which the warnings apply, they will be added to the story as a whole. The rating, however, will be subject to elevation depending on how graphic some of the future scenes become. I anticipate that it will stay M, but it never hurts to be open. But don't worry. Anything I think may be triggering, I'll put a warning in the before-chapter notes.
> 
> Two, this story takes place in a slightly different Remnant than RWBY. The key differences are as follows: There are no Grimm or Faunus. Dust is an energy source, not a magical substance. There is no Aura or Semblance. Huntsmen do not exist.  
> However, there are still some similarities that make me hesitant to call this a true Modern Setting AU. For example, scrolls and CCT are used instead of phones and the Internet. Atlas and other forms of tech, such as Paladins, airships, or Ironwood's metal body, are just as technologically advanced as they are in canon. And of course, I mentioned the fact that all of Remnant's power comes from Dust. 
> 
> And that's it! Now, sit back, and enjoy the show. All song references are property of Jeff Wiliams, and all characters are property of Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (RIP).

_“Yang Xiao Long! Yang Xiao Long! Yang Xiao Long!”_

A chant echoed through the evening air as Yang finished her tune-ups. She threw a smirk at her sister Ruby, who was giving her own weapon of choice one last once-over. Ruby met her gaze and rolled her eyes.

 _Like you needed any more ego,_ Ruby mouthed at her. Yang’s smirk turned into a grin. She cast a glance at the rest of her team.

“You all ready for this?” she shot at Weiss, who scoffed in response.

“Are we ever not?” Weiss asked. Yang snickered and raised her hands in defense.

“Never hurts to ask,” she said, turning to her final teammate. “Nora?”

“Let’s do this, hotshot.” Nora’s eyes glinted with a light that put the spotlights surrounding them to shame. Still grinning, Yang signaled to their technician, Penny, who nodded in response and turned to her control board. As the lights dimmed, the crowd waiting on the other side of the brilliant yellow curtain’s chant devolved into senseless screaming, before eventually consolidating into what, to someone with no prior knowledge of where they were standing, would have sounded a lot like the word “ _yearn_ ” repeated over and over. As the crowd chanted, a man with striking blue hair walked onto the stage, spotlights following him and framing his form against the golden curtains hiding the four women onstage from the audience’s starving eyes.

“How’s it going, people of Haven?” Neptune called into a stage microphone, his words being immediately met with tumultuous applause. “Are you all excited to hear your four favorite ladies in action tonight?” The crowd responded with a resounding cheer, but Neptune merely clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “Is that all? C’mon, people, I want them to hear you all the way up in Atlas! I said, who’s ready to hear the lovely ladies of YRWN?”

The hyped-up scream of approval from the crowd was deafening, and Yang suppressed a snicker. Neptune’s real skill would come to shine at various points later that night, but if there was one thing that the two of them both loved doing, it was working a crowd. Neptune had long ago decided he wanted to work his magic and hype the crowd before concerts began. Yang had permitted it, admittedly at first partially because she felt a little bad that he didn’t get as much stage time as the rest of them, and had been happily surprised at how well he prepped the crowd. It had been tradition ever since.

Neptune nodded approvingly. “Better, better!” he called into the mic. “Well, who am I to deny such a devoted audience? Ladies and gentlemen, but especially the ladies,” he cast a sly wink out into the crowd, “Please join me in welcoming our very own YRWN!”

A quick flick of Penny’s hand as Neptune strolled offstage caused the curtains to break away from their railing, a complicated array of strategically placed strings and air gusts causing them to flutter and ripple while a spectacular light show illuminated the edges in glowing light, the entire ensemble giving the curtains the appearance of simply burning away to reveal Yang’s band, YRWN. It was the complexity of the live special effects like this that gave Penny her reputation as a tech master (not to mention her tabloid nickname of “The Puppetmaster of YRWN”). This was also the reason Yang refused to trust her band’s special effects to anyone else. At Penny’s offstage nod, Yang stepped up to the microphone.

“Thank you, Neptune! And thank you, Mistral!” she called into the microphone, the crowd’s roar even louder than it had been for Neptune. “Now this is what I like to hear!” Yang flashed a blinding smile at the crowd. The lights blazed, reflecting off the yellow axe guitar slung around her shoulder, shining the same color as her golden hair, as she grabbed the mic and walked with it across the stage. “You all seem pretty eager to hear us play, am I right?” The crowd screamed in agreement. “Yeah, that’s what I thought!” She strolled back to her place, setting the mic back on its stand. “Now everyone get ready…” the lights flashed a blazing orange, “ _TO BURN_!”

The hundreds of thousands in the audience screamed and roared, yelling themselves hoarse. Yang shot one last glance back at her band: Ruby’s bass was up and ready, Weiss’s eyes were narrowed in determination as her fingers hovered over her keyboard, and Nora’s drumsticks were almost twitching in anticipation.

Yang turned back to the crowd and brought her hand down on the strings of her guitar. The familiar twelve chords blared through the air, the opening of a song as old as the band itself. The crowd continued to cheer, but the music of I Burn, YRWN’s signature piece, overpowered their screams.

 

-

 

_“Come at me, and you’ll see, I’m more than meets the eye,”_

_I Burn_ was the first song that Yang ever wrote for her band, back when she, Ruby, Weiss, and Nora were just a little high school garage band, and Yang knew it so well that she was playing on autopilot from the first note. Looking out at the record-breakingly packed house, Yang mentally thanked Lie Ren, the band’s manager, for his effort in getting them this particular tour. Mistral and its capital city already had a largely tourist-driven economy, and it was a popular vacation for anyone from Atlas to Vacuo. But Ren had gone above and beyond, not only managing to secure the band a solid tour of the entire continent of Anima, but brokering a deal with the kingdom’s Council giving them tours and concert deals stretching for five years.

“In exchange for some favors from them,” Ren had said ambiguously, when Yang asked. “We just get people flooding into Mistral and keeping their economy high, and Mistral’s Council becomes some very powerful friends.”

Yang brought her focus back to the concert as she finished the first verse, _“Sendin’ out your army, but you still can’t win. Listen up, silly boy, ‘cause I’m gonna tell you why!”_ Singing and playing, Yang leaned to the edge of the stage and threw her hand out, inviting the audience to join in the titular lyric, and sing it with her bandmates.

“ _I BURN!”_ came the synchronized cry from the audience, even as Ruby, Weiss, and Nora sang the line from behind Yang. Weiss had once asked why the three of them even needed to sing the line if Yang was just going to invite the audience to sing for them anyway. She still needed a retort for that.

Yang finished her inter-verse instrumental and strolled along the stage’s edge for the second verse, relishing in how the audience, even ten plus rows back, reached out as if they could touch her onstage. “ _Reign supreme? In your dreams! You’ll never make me bow!”_ The burden of spurring audience interaction was entirely on Yang, both as the lead singer and the only member of the bad to actually have a mobile instrument. Not that she minded. Seeing the frenzied adoration in the band’s fans up close fueled her flames like a fresh strawberry sunrise and whatever fan she brought back up to her hotel room. Being a rock star had its benefits, and getting laid effortlessly was one that Yang enjoyed most of all.

Finishing up the second chorus, Yang switched gears, walking backward away from the edge of the stage. “ _You can fight your life away, I get what I want so don’t bother and just watch me burn!”_

As ever, Penny’s timing was near-robotic in its precision. She killed the flashing lights and fiery effects, and shot a spotlight down on Neptune. A rising platform, hidden by smoke and darkness, had brought him onstage in a blind spot while Yang held the audience’s attention.

As soon as the spotlight hit him, Neptune started rapping. “ _Hotter than the sun! Feel my fire! Pyromaniac, my desire!_ ”

Yang smirked, continuing to play as Neptune rapped. The story of how YRWN had taken on the young rapper was one she’d never get tired of telling. In its early days, before the band was anything more than four high school friends screwing around with music and instruments, none of them had even considered adding rap segments to their songs. This had changed once Yang met Neptune.

Neptune was tone-deaf as all else. He could not play an instrument to save his life, and any attempt of his to actually _sing_ closely resembled a dying cat. But surprisingly (to Yang), these two things did nothing to inhibit his impressive skill at rapping. From that point forward, most of YRWN’s “concert” songs, and even a few of their record songs, were written to include a rap segment. Yang had even re-written a few of YRWN’s older songs to add parts for Neptune.

Neptune was not a “major” part of YRWN. He was offstage more than three-fourths of the time, and he didn’t play an instrument. As such, he’d insisted that his name not be added to YRWN’s title, even though Yang assured him that none of the rest of them would mind.

“We wouldn’t even need to change the pronunciation,” Yang had told him. “Just add another N to the end. YRWNN.”

But Neptune had declined. “I like it the way it is,” he’d said. “Besides, you, Nora, Weiss, and Ruby were the ones who started the band, and you’re the ones who’re onstage the entire time. It’s really you guys’ band.”

And he’d refused to hear anything else of it. The subject still came up occasionally during interviews, but Neptune always waved it off.

Yang’s attention was called back to the present as she heard Neptune on the last few lines. _“Seems you fucks will never learn, now sit back and watch me burn!”_ Yang launched into the song’s final instrumental, preparing for the final chorus.

“I BURN!”

 _“Can’t hold me down, and you never-...”_ Yang sang.

“I BURN!”

_Swing all you want, like a fever I will take you-...”_

“I BURN!”

 

-

 

The air was alive with a burning, pulsing heat. Thousands of bodies all pressed together, all yearning to hear the music of the four women onstage. It was the exact last sort of place that one might expect to find a quiet, bookish woman who had a total of two friends. And yet, Blake Belladonna found herself braving the crowds, the people, and the utter lack of privacy in order to feed her addiction to the music of YRWN. She sang along shamelessly at every line Yang Xiao Long coaxed from the audience, screamed herself screamed herself hoarse with cheers at the end of each song, and protested loudly when, eventually, the evening drew to a close. Her usual introversion was nowhere to be found, chased away by the music of YRWN.

Ilia had once told her that she became an entirely different person around YRWN. Blake’s initial reply had been that it was mob mentality; she was just another face in a crowd who was all acting the same way. Then Ilia said that she acted almost exactly the same sometimes when listening to the music privately with earbuds, whether she was at their apartment or even occasionally in a public place. That had shut her up for a good long while.

Yang Xiao Long finished their last song of the night _(This Will Be the Day,_ one of Blake’s favorites) with a grand final chord and exuberant motion, sweeping her hand across the audience. “Thank you, Mistral!” she called into the microphone as the final curtain fell, obscuring the four musicians once again. “Goodnight!”

 

-

 

Music blared, but Weiss wasn’t the one playing it. She was in the VIP area of some bar for YRWN’s traditional first-concert after-party, surrounded by her bandmates, crew, and friends, and a strong drink half-finished in front of her as music that sounded almost as loud as her concert played on speakers around her. Though, that last part may have been the alcohol.

In spite of the successful-as-ever concert (which had finished several hours ago), Weiss was slouched over in a booth, already drinking her seventh heavy White Lady, and considering moving on to something stronger. She cast a glance around.

Her band was in its usual form for the first night of a tour. Yang and Nora were sitting at the bar, supervised by Ren and engaged in a vicious shot competition, being cheered on by various roadies or other members of their crew whose names Weiss could never keep straight. Pyrrha was _attempting_ to remain sober, ever their responsible head of security, but Neptune had convinced her to take several shots already and now she was all but swaying on her feet. Neptune, for his part, was completely smashed, standing on a table and singing.

 _Or attempting to,_ Weiss thought, glaring at their caterwauling rapper. His musical skills started and ended with what they paid him for.

Weiss glanced around the bar again. Ruby and Penny were conspicuously absent. She sighed, leaning back in the booth and resting her head against its cushion, letting her eyes fall closed. It was hardly a surprise, Ruby and her girlfriend excusing themselves from the party early for a bit of “alone time.”

“Not enjoying yourself?” Ren said. Weiss jumped slightly, her eyes shooting open. Ren had seated himself across from her, resting his hands calmly on the tabletop. Unlike everyone else, he was completely focused, either indicative of a very high tolerance or just a night of abstinence. Both of which were equally likely.

Weiss took a breath to compose herself before meeting his eyes. “Hello, Ren,” she said. “No, it’s a fine party, I’m just… struggling with some unfortunate thoughts. Nothing to concern yourself with.”

“I see,” Ren said. They remained silent for a few moments, Ren’s keen eyes boring into her, until Weiss began to fidget uncomfortably. Ren would never pry into the personal affairs of YRWN, or at least, not directly. But he had a way of getting to the heart of matters that made him sometimes more of YRWN’s babysitter than manager.

But not this time. Weiss wasn’t going to tell him what had her so disquieted. It was her problem, not his. It was personal.

“If it truly means so much to you to keep it private, then I won’t ask,” Ren said. “But, my problem or not, I would not be against you confiding in _someone._ ”

Weiss blushed a shade to rival Ruby’s cloak. “How much of that was out loud?” she asked.

“A good deal of it. Do you honestly think of me as your babysitter?” Ren asked. Weiss blushed even deeper and averted her eyes. Ren chuckled slightly. “I can tell this subject makes you uncomfortable. Let’s change the subject.”

“Yes, please,” Weiss grumbled. Anything would be better than this.

Anything except what Ren said next. “Have you seen Ruby? She appears to have vanished.”

Weiss, if possible, flushed even deeper. She prayed that the bad lighting would prevent Ren from noticing, or at least, he would attribute it to the alcohol. She took a vicious swig of her drink. “I don’t know,” she said, knowing she sounded slightly bitter but not being able to stop herself. “But Penny’s gone, too, so I assume they found some dark spot to rip each other’s clothes off.”

Ren narrowed his eyes at her and leaned forward. Weiss fidgeted uncomfortably again. “What?”

“That is the _least_ likely scenario. Ruby is sex-averse asexual. What’s more, you know that because you were the first person she told. Are you feeling okay?” Ren said. So much blood was now coloring Weiss’s face that she was becoming light-headed. She went to take another drink from her glass, only to find it empty. She slammed it down on the table with more force than was strictly necessary.

“Right, you’re right, of course,” she said, getting up and swaying slightly. “I believe I’ve simply had a bit much to drink. I think I’ll be heading back to the hotel now.”

“Shall I send someone to escort you?” Ren asked, rising as well. “You’re in no condition to go anywhere alone.”

“No, no, I’ll be fine. I’m fine,” Weiss said, her words slurring together and making it very clear that she was not “fine.” She staggered to the door before Ren could say anything else. The tiniest part of her brain knew that he was right, and that she really should have one of her crew with her to prevent her from getting into any trouble, but that part was overpowered by the sad, drunk part that just wanted to be alone. She stumbled down the stairs, out of the VIP area and into where the commoners drank, heading toward the exit of the bar. She was so unfocused that she slammed straight into a wall of yellow. She stumbled back.

“Weiss?” the yellow blur asked. When Weiss’s vision refocused, she recognized Yang, with someone that Weiss didn’t recognize hanging on her arm. That was nothing new, Yang was prone to finding strangers and bringing them back to the hotel for a one-night stand. Weiss had done the same for the first several years of their career, but she had since stopped for two reasons. Neither were things she was keen on thinking about.

“Yang,” Weiss said, straightening her back to maintain her perfect poise. Or at least, she attempted to. She was far too drunk to be able to tell if she’d succeeded, but judging by Yang’s face, she had not. “I was just headed back to the hotel. There is no need to escort me, I am perfectly capable of making the trip myself.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t…” Yang said, looking critically at her. “Weiss, how drunk are you?”

“Only a small amount, Ying,” Weiss said, most likely keeping her voice very, very steady. “I have not had too much Ruby at all tonight.”

“Right,” Yang said skeptically. “Yeah, no, I’m coming with you.”

“You’re drunk tyoo, Yang,” Weiss slurred. “You drank with Nora a lot.”

“But _I_ can hold my alcohol, Weiss. The strongest stuff you can hold is wine.” Yang said.

“You’ve got a company, Yang,” Weiss hiccupped. “You go have sex. I’ll be fine.”

Yang’s companion flushed, but Yang merely said, “What, him? Weiss, I can ditch a one-night stand if it means you get back safely.” The guy suddenly looked very nervous at the prospect of losing the chance to sleep with a rock star.

A small commotion drew their attention and Ruby stumbled down the stairs, supported by Penny. Both of them, Weiss noted drunkenly (and hopefully silently) were indeed still clothed. Ruby was leaning heavily on her girlfriend’s arm, but Penny looked relatively sober.

“Hello, Yang and Weiss!” Penny greeted them enthusiastically. “Ruby has consumed too many drinks tonight, so I am taking her home. I will see you both tomorrow!”

“Wait, Penny,” Yang said. Weiss paled, her drunken mind catching up with what Yang was thinking. “Could you take Weiss back, too? She’s not much better than Ruby.”

“Can do!” Penny chirped. Yang shot Weiss a grin.

“There you go, Weiss. She’s headed back to the hotel now anyway, go with her.” She gave Weiss a gentle shove into Penny, who grabbed her arm. “Get them some water, Penny!” she called as Penny dragged them out of the bar with strength disproportionate to her tiny frame.

“Will do!” she said, all but shoving Weiss through the bar’s front door. Her convoy safely in tow, Penny flagged down a passing cab.

“Sanctum Hotel, please!” she told the cabbie. He nodded and Penny all but threw Ruby into the backseat (her drunk girlfriend had attempted to wander off in the few seconds she’d had her back turned). She turned to Weiss.

“Come on, Weiss!” She gestured into the cab, where Ruby was sprawled out, giggling, in the backseat. Weiss pouted, her drunk mind not registering how undignified it looked.

“I am a grown adult, Penny. I do not need an escort,” she said, sitting down in the cab with an indignant huff.

“Yes, but you are inebriated. Yang does not wish any harm to befall you. She is merely concerned for your safety.” Penny said, sitting next to her. She closed the door, and the driver took off.

“I’m concerned for Weiss safety too,” Ruby slurred from Weiss’s other side, her head falling onto Weiss’s shoulder. Penny giggled.

“Go to sleep, Ruby. You’ll feel better,” she said.

“Yes, and please do it against the window rather than against me,” Weiss said, trying unsuccessfully to remove Ruby’s face from her shoulder. Her uncoordinated efforts finally yielded results, though quite the opposite of what she’d intended: Ruby’s head slid from its place on Weiss’s shoulder and she planted face-first in Weiss’s lap. Weiss froze in discomfort, shooting a nonverbal plea for help in Penny’s direction. The entire event only made Penny laugh harder.

“I hope she’s comfortable,” Penny said between laughs, “Once Ruby passes out from drinking, I’ve never seen her wake up until several hours later.”

“Oh, I’m sure _she’s_ comfortable,” Weiss snipped.

“Are you sure?” Penny asked innocently. “I thought you were far too bony to make a good pillow.”

Weiss narrowed her eyes at Penny, but without much venom. She’d dealt with too many Weiss-is-too-thin jokes from her band to take them seriously anymore. “Ha, ha,” she said. “Nora used that one last week. I think.”

Penny merely continued to laugh, but soon fell quiet. “I do have to ask, Weiss,” she said after a couple of minutes of silence, “Are you feeling okay?”

“Wha?” Weiss asked, having been about to drift off.

“You do not typically drink this much when we are out. Usually, it is at the hotel or at home that you consume a lot of alcohol. But I have recently noticed you drinking more and more, even when we are not in a safe location. So I will ask again, are you okay? You are my friend, and Yang and Ruby are not the only ones who are concerned about your well-being.”

 _You are my friend._ Penny had intended the statement to make Weiss feel more at ease, but it only further disquieted her. _What kind of a friend am I?_ She thought, this time very hopefully silently. _With a huge crush on your girlfriend? Who am I to sit in here with you, pretending that Ruby’s face on my bare thighs isn’t the best thing that’s happened to me tonight?_

“I’m fine,” she eventually said. “Everything is fine.”


	2. From Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pyrrha deals with one more problem than she's paid to handle, while Blake and Sun learn of an exciting opportunity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good god, it's been too long since I've been able to write for this story. I'll spare you the explanation of the newest source of stress in my life that's caused this to take so long (but if you're actually curious, you can probably figure it out by visiting my tumblr).
> 
> Because I know it'll come up, this chapter features some lines from Caffeine, to which we've established that I obviously own no RWBY songs. I bring it up because I edited some of the lyrics of the song, because at this point in the story, that song has not yet finished being written. So if you're reading and notice that some of the lyrics are wrong, that's intentional.
> 
> I also feel obligated to mention that I made one slight edit to Chapter 1. It wasn't anything major, just a portion of it that I found worked better if put later in the story. So if you read the chapter before that edit took place, congratulations! You know more about Neptune's joining YRWN than I've decided is necessary for this point in the story. It'll be put into a later chapter, though, as well as expanded on in more detail. It's not deleted.

“ _ Never. Let. Me. Drink. Again. Penny.” _ Pyrrha groaned, resting her head in her hands in the hotel lobby. The other redhead giggled.

“I think you are fine, Pyrrha. You have not thrown up, so that is something you have on Weiss,” she said with a small smile. 

“I’d better not throw up. You saw Yang, I assume?” Pyrrha asked. Penny nodded.

“She has found someone to keep her company tonight,” she said. Pyrrha stared at her, nodding slowly.

“Right… ‘keep her company.’ That’s it, Penny,” Pyrrha said slowly. “But when Yang is done with him, he’ll have to leave. And sometimes, people that… keep Yang company… don’t want to leave right afterward.”

“Understandable. Yang is very entertaining company,” Penny said, nodding seriously. 

Pyrrha coughed to cover a brief laugh. “You know, Penny, it really makes sense why Ruby is dating you. But yes, people are enthralled by the… fascinating conversations they have with her, even when she wants them to leave so that she can go to sleep. So when people don’t want to leave her alone, she calls me and has me, um,” she looked at Penny’s wide, innocent eyes. “ _ Persuade _ them to leave.” 

“I see. But what does that have to do with your drinking?” Penny asked.

“Well, sometimes I have to be a bit intimidating to make the person leave,” Pyrrha said. “And I can’t do that if I’m so hungover that I need to lean against a wall to stand up.”

Penny’s eyes widened in understanding. “Ohhh, I see.” she said. “Well, perhaps I could do that for you? I have not had much to drink at all.”

Two images flitted through Pyrrha’s mind, one amusing, though disastrous, image of Penny attempting to intimidate one of Yang’s flings, and one horrifying image of the innocent Penny discovering the truth of what Yang did with her “companions.”

“No, that’s all right, Penny. Thank you, but I’ll manage,” she said hastily, silently thanking the gods for a way out of the conversation when she saw her scroll light up with a message from Yang.

_ Could you come take out the trash? Thanks. _

“Sorry, Penny, but it’s time to go do the unpleasant part of my job,” she said, rising from the seat and shaking her head in an attempt to clear it. 

“Good luck, Pyrrha!” Penny chirped. Pyrrha waved her hand in farewell as she headed for the elevator. Stepping in, she pressed the button for the top floor and stepped back, leaning back against the cool metal of the elevator wall and resting her eyes. Sooner than expected, the bell chimed and the doors opened. Pyrrha opened her eyes to see Jaune Arc, an old friend of hers for whom she’d provided a job as one of YRWN’s roadies, stepping into the elevator. 

A friend whom she may  _ also _ , just possibly, have developed more-than-platonic feelings for. Feelings which were not reciprocated. Feelings which were directed… elsewhere.

Jaune jumped back when he saw Pyrrha, nervously hiding something behind his back. “H-hey, Pyrrha! Uh, what are you doing here?”

“You mean, what am I doing in an elevator going up to the fifth floor, where my room is, along with the rest of the band’s rooms? Potentially many things.” Pyrrha said in a flat vice. “A better question would be, why are  _ you _ getting in an elevator going up,  _ from _ the second floor, where  _ your  _ room is?”

“Ohhh, this elevator’s going  _ up? _ ” Jaune laughed nervously, watching as the doors slid shut behind him. “Oopsie. Well, I’ll just wait until you get to the top, then I’ll take it back down to…”

“Jaune,” Pyrrha said, a warning tone in her voice, “Were you on your way to try another attempt at ‘wooing’ Weiss?” 

“I…” Jaune said, not meeting Pyrrha’s gaze. Eventually, his shoulders slumped. “Yeah, I was. I wrote her a poem this time,” he said, taking his hands from behind his back to show Pyrrha a piece of folded paper. He cleared his throat. “Roses are red, but sometimes they’re white…”

“I’m just going to stop you there,” Pyrrha said as the elevator chimed again, doors opening on the correct floor this time. She strode forward purposefully, Jaune hurrying to keep up. “Listen, Jaune, I don’t know how you got it into your head that performing these hopeless romantic antics for your boss was a  _ good _ idea...”

“You know, technically, Penny is my boss,” Jaune said. “And Yang and Ren. But not Weiss.”

Pyrrha rolled her eyes. “Either way, if it weren’t for the fact that your attempts amuse Yang more than they annoy Weiss, you would certainly be out of a job.”

“That and your good word?” Jaune asked hopefully. Pyrrha stopped at Yang’s door and leveled a glare at Jaune. 

“No, if Yang wanted you gone, no amount of my good word would convince her to keep you. All my friendship with you is good for is preventing me from treating you with the same level of respect as this guy.” She raised her hand and rapped her knuckles against Yang’s door and called out, “Housekeeping!” 

The door opened a few moments later, and a disheveled man stumbled out, looking the very epitome of “tail between the legs.” Yang appeared a moment later, tossing a sock onto the guy’s shoulder. She was dressed in only a bedsheet, draped around herself in a way that didn’t leave much of her body to the imagination. Jaune flushed red and averted his eyes, but Pyrrha had done this far too many times to not be used to her boss and friend’s utter lack of abashedness. 

Yang’s gaze fixed on something behind them and she scoffed. “Ren, I swear. Give me five minutes to get dressed before bothering me with whatever it is you need.”

“Noted,” Ren said. Jaune jumped.

“Holy-... Ren, how long have you been standing there?” he demanded. 

“Only a few moments,” Ren replied. He nodded in greeting to Pyrrha, ignoring her other companion completely. Pyrrha nodded back and grabbed the man’s sleeve, escorting him roughly to the elevator. 

“Hey, take it easy, will ya?” he asked.

“I swear, Ren is secretly a ninja or something,” Jaune said, turning back to look at where he stood silently in front of Yang’s door, waiting. “I mean, he just appears out of nowhere.” Pyrrha gave him a stern look as she hit the button to summon the elevator. “What do you think he wanted?”

“Probably to remind Yang that she and Neptune are to appear on  _ Coffee Hour _ tonight,” Pyrrha guessed. She dragged the man into the elevator as the doors opened and gestured for Jaune to follow.

“Oh, uh, I was gonna go see Weiss,” Jaune tried to say, but Pyrrha grabbed him by the arm as well and tugged him into the elevator. 

“No, you are going to knock off chasing after someone who doesn’t want you to before it gets you in trouble,” Pyrrha said as the doors slid shut, keeping her voice steady. “It’s been several years. If she was going to date you, she already would be. Move on and try dating… someone else.”

Jaune sighed dejectedly as the doors to the second floor opened. “You might be right…” he said, walking out of the elevator. Still…”

“Good night, Jaune,” Pyrrha cut him off firmly and pressed the button to close the elevator doors. She sighed, frustrated, and closed her eyes, rubbing her fingers against her forehead. 

“So… you an’ him, huh?” the man asked.

“What?” Pyrrha asked, turning her death glare at him. He backed up a bit, raising his hands in defense. 

“I’m just sayin’, you’ve got a thing for that guy, right? I could see it plain as day.” He gave her a sly wink. “Y’know, girl like you could do a lot better n’him. My name's...”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Pyrrha said stiffly, her death glare made even worse by her hangover and foul mood. The man backed up against the wall. “And if you’re smart, you’ll remain silent until you leave the building, or you’ll learn that my earlier treatment of you was ‘gentle.’”

The elevator doors opened with a cheerful little  _ ding. _

“Now, get out, and don’t return unless you are expressly invited back. Judging from earlier, that’s unlikely to happen.” she snapped. One of her security officers, passing by on rounds, caught her eye. “May Zedong,” she said, calling her over.

“Yeah, boss?” she replied.

“Please escort this man from the hotel,” Pyrrha said shortly. “I would appreciate it.”

“Sure thing, boss,” May replied, grabbing the man’s sleeve. “Come along, dude.”

“Ow, hey, what is it with you people and grabbing sleeves?” the man fussed as he was led away. “I can walk, y’know.”

Penny poked her head into the elevator, startling Pyrrha. “You’re right, that  _ was _ fairly intimidating! Even I was almost afraid of you.” 

Pyrrha glanced wearily at Penny. “Hello again, Penny. Did you need something?”

“Actually, I was going to turn in for the night. I was headed up to my room,” Penny said, fully entering the elevator and pressing the button for the fifth floor. 

Pyrrha pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes. “I’ll go ahead and head up, too,” she said, letting the doors slide shut. 

A few moments later, they opened, and Penny said, “Hello, Jaune Arc!”

Pyrrha opened her eyes in a steely glare, and Jaune jumped back. “Auuhh, wrong elevator!” he stammered, and hastily retreated down the hallway. Penny looked curiously after him as the doors closed again.

“What was that about?” she asked, shooting an inquisitive look at Pyrrha. 

“Nothing. I hope.” Pyrrha said darkly.

“Fair enough,” Penny said cheerily. She turned back to face forward, bouncing happily on her feet and humming an upbeat tune under her breath, leaving Pyrrha to mull over her thoughts in silence.

 

-

 

Blake’s head was buried in a book when her hotel door flew open, and Sun Wukong, one of her best friends and the person accompanying her on this trip, burst into her room.

“You know, I don’t know why we bother getting separate rooms if you steal my spare key every time and barge in here without even knocking at all hours of the night,” Blake deadpanned.

“Turn on the TV!” Sun all but shouted, grinning excitedly. Rather than waiting for her to comply, he grabbed the remote and jumped onto Blake’s bed, turning on the TV and flicking through the channels.

“What are you looking for?” Blake asked, bemused. Sun shushed her and continued his feverish channel surf.

“Aha!” he exclaimed, finally settling on a channel. Blake stared at the screen in confusion. On it, a studio audience was laughing as the screen focused on Coco Adel.

“ _ The Coffee Hour? _ ” Blake asked. “Sun, you hate talk shows, why do you- ohhh…” she said, her eyes widening and a grin spreading across her face as the camera cut from Coco, the host, to the grinning face of Neptune Vasilias. Blake smirked at Sun. “Your celebrity crush is a guest on it.”

“Yours is, too, otherwise I’d have watched it in my room where I’d be free from your harassment.” he shot back, pointing at the screen as it cut to Yang Xiao Long’s face. She, too, was laughing at whatever had happened the moment before Sun turned the TV on. “Now shh. I just caught the end of it.”

“Well, we  _ are _ YRWN’s voice,” Neptune said, presumably continuing the conversation. “Lead singer and sole rapper.”

“ _ Sole _ rapper?” Yang asked, turning toward Neptune with a devious grin. “You wanna go there?”

Neptune laughed nervously, and Coco leaned forward. “Oh, let’s go with  _ this _ story, then, yeah?” she said. “Who else in YRWN can rap?”

“Nora is astonishingly good at rapping,” Yang laughed. “When we finally find a reason to get rid of Neptune, she’s set to take over the role.”

“She’d joking,” Neptune said. “Mostly. I mean, Nora  _ can _ rap, but she’s not as good as me.”

“Well, we’ll just have to invite Nora to the show next time you tour Anima, and we’ll put that to the test, shall we?” Coco said.

“Oh, I would pay money to see that,” Yang said enthusiastically. “Nep looks nervous, though. Don’t worry, Neptune, I promise we won’t get rid of you even after Nora beats you.”

The studio audience laughed again, and Coco said, “Well, we’re running close to being out of time here, but before we say good night, we’ve got one more thing to do. Seeing how both of YRWN’s vocalists are here, how about giving us a performance to close out the night?” 

“Got a guitar?” Yang asked, rising from the couch on which shed been sitting. A stagehand brought one out to her. “Wow, you guys are prepared.” She cast a glance at Coco. “You’ve been waiting all night to ask us to perform, haven’t you?” 

“I will neither confirm nor deny that statement,” Coco said evasively. 

“Uh huh,” Yang said, strumming the guitar lightly and walking toward the set’s stage. “Any requests?”

“Well, since you asked,” Coco said, tilting her sunglasses down her nose, “You wouldn’t happen to be willing to give a demo of any songs you have yet to release, would you?” 

Yang raised an eyebrow at Coco. “Since it’s you, Adel, I  _ would  _ be willing. Neptune?”

“I think I can guess which one you want to do,” Neptune said, moving to stand by Yang.

“I’ll be starting in the middle, so we can get to your part,” Yang said. “Plus, Nora’s not here and the drums are an important part.” She smirked. “But I’ll give you a taste of Caffeine.”

“Booo, no puns,” Coco groaned. Yang just laughed. She threw her hair back and started strumming. 

_ “I’m a cheetah on the planes, I’m a highway star, a supersonic princess in a million dollar car, blood on fire pumping through my veins, weaving in and out as I’m jumping through the lanes. _

_ “I’m hyper-drive, overdrive, hit the gas at forty-five, breakneck, train wreck, in my presence, show respect, track-rounding, speed-a-sounding, terrifying, pulse-pounding, heart-pumping, brain-thumping, watch me get the party jumping. _

_ “Caffeine, oh I’m caffeine, caffeine, oh I’m caffeine.” _

Neptune stepped up to the microphone.  _ “Oh, listen up, I hope you like it HOT. Grab yourself a mug, cause I made a fresh pot. Come and get a drink of my kick-ass java, feeding your addiction to my thick black lava. _

_ “We can do with an espresso, or the cappuccino way, sure to get your fix, venti or grande. Equal, Splenda, sugar maybe Sweet’N Low, everybody’s happy when they’re hangin’ with Joe, let’s go!” _

A short instrumental later, Yang played a dramatic chord and stopped. The studio audience burst into applause. After it died down, Yang said, “That song isn’t done yet, and that wasn’t the whole thing, but it should keep you all satisfied for now.”

“Well, on that lovely note,” Coco said, “That’s all the time we have for tonight. Thank you for joining us tonight, Yang, Neptune.”

“Oh, happy to be here,” Yang nodded. “Remember to invite us back next time we’re touring in Mistral.”

“I’ll be sure to,” Coco said. “And audience, make sure to go to YRWN’s live performances all over Anima for the coming weeks. This has been The Coffee Hour, with Coco Adel. Goodnight, Mistral!”

Upbeat, generic music played as the camera panned away from Yang, Neptune, and Coco, credits beginning to rise in front of the screen. Blake glanced at Sun.

“You weren’t kidding, that was like five minutes,” she drawled. 

“Would you rather I’d just stayed in my room and watched it without you?” Sun retorted. “Then you wouldn’t have heard that great new song.” 

Blake shrugged. “Alright, fair,” she said. A second later, she laughed. “You know, if Ilia were here, she’d probably mock us for stooping to watching late-night talk shows just for a glimpse of- mmph! Ow!” Blake was cut off by Sun shoving his hand against her mouth. “The hell, Sun?”

“Sorry, sorry, but shut up for a second!” Sun pointed to the screen. “Look!” 

A commercial was playing, and Blake smirked at Sun. “Okay, Ilia would  _ definitely  _ mock you for getting excited over a  _ commercial _ for YRWN.”

Sun glared at her. “No, listen to it! It’s for a YRWN trivia tournament. Winners get tickets for their entire tour!”

“What?” Blake asked, eyes snapping back to the screen. 

Sun wasn’t wrong. An organization called the Williams Music Foundation was holding a doubles trivia competition in three days. For 50 lien, a team of two could compete to be the “ultimate YRWN fan.” Third place winners would win tickets to all of YRWN’s concerts in Mistral, second place would win tickets to every concert in the Anima tour, and first place would win backstage passes in addition to the tour tickets. Blake’s face lit up in a smile. 

“Oh, we  _ so _ have to enter this competition,” Sun said, jumping up to stand on the bed in his excitement. “You’ve been obsessing over YRWN for even longer than I have. No  _ way _ are we gonna lose! We’re going on an all-expense paid YRWN marathon, baby!” 

The smile slowly slid from Blake’s face. “Uh, Sun?” she said. “It’s only paying for the tickets, we have to pay for travel, hotels, all that. Can we even afford that? And can we afford to take that much time off work?”

“Yeah, totally, totally!” Sun said, waving his hand dismissively. He plopped back down to sit on the bed. “Great thing about working for a friend? Sage is cool with pretty much whatever I do. And you can just call Ilia tomorrow, she can probably convince Tukson to give you extra time off. He likes you, it’ll be no sweat.”

“You really think so?” Blake asked apprehensively, barely letting herself get her hopes up. “What about paying for travel and stuff?”

“We can just rent a car! That’s not gonna be too expensive, and since it’s not like we spend much money on anything else, we can afford hotels for the trip.” Sun threw his arm around her shoulders. “You gotta live sometime, Blake! You can’t spend your whole life working in some bookshop, letting adventures pass you by! You have to grab life by the horns, and ride it off into the horizon!” 

“I didn’t follow most of that, but I think I got the gist,” Blake laughed. “You’re right. Okay, what the hell, let’s do it.”

“That’s the spirit!” Sun shot up again, off the bed. “Now, get some sleep! We’ve got a lot of studying up to do tomorrow on every detail of YRWN’s entire history if we want to win this thing!”

With that, he strolled from Blake’s room, shutting the door behind himself with a sharp  _ bang. _ Blake fell back against the bed and sighed. Somehow, Sun, as usual, had just talked her into participating in another one of his reckless and irresponsible shenanigans. In the past, these never ended well, usually culminating in getting one or both of them in trouble, setting something on fire, getting on Ilia’s nerves, or, on one particularly memorable occasion, convincing the entire crew of a boat that they were sailing in dragon-infested waters. So it was impossible to predict where exactly this particular misadventure was going to take her, nor did she know why she kept agreeing to them.

What she did know, however, was that this time, she was actually looking forward to it. A thought which had her both slightly apprehensive, and very, very excited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One quick note, I've received some feedback inquiring about the use of both Ruby/Penny and Ruby/Weiss tags, asking if Ruby will be engaging in multiple relationships at once, in love with both Penny and Weiss at the same time, etc. Short answer? No, she will not. Long answer? If she were, then I would have either used a Multi, Cheating, or Polyamory tag depending on the circumstances, none of which were used. I don't want to spoil what my endgame is for that particular arc, but it's going to have a lot of development over the course of the story, so stick around if you want to see how that ends.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. Long fics like this are not easy to write, and reader feedback really helps with motivation. Until next time, dearies!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you're enjoying it so far! Any questions, comments, or concerns, please direct them to the comment box down below. I love to hear from you.


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